Each cause has manifested itself in a different project. For emotional health — codenamed the "Dementor Horcrux," after the crippling existential dread induced by those cloaked creatures — participants submitted artistic expressions of their Patronus, the glowing, ass-kicking spirit animal that protects against the aforementioned suckers of soul.
>> READ: Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 by Peter Keough <<
To combat illiteracy, the HPA holds an annual book drive, Accio Books, gathering reading materials for literacy centers and schools around the country. Pam Elise Harris, a self-identified Gryffindor who heads a Manhattan-based chapter of the HPA, says the book drive was a huge success, gathering about 88,000 books nationwide.
The HPA will round out the Deathly Hallows campaign by focusing on climate change, which Slack says has the broadest impact of all. "As a Horcrux, the climate crisis threatens the entire existence of life as we know it."
To "protect our Forbidden Forests and magical creatures," the HPA is partnering with the social advocacy group Splashlife to crowdsource new ways of raising climate awareness through art and the Internet.
It's this potent mix of social media and modern myth that Slack believes can continue to focus the passion of a decentralized network of fans. "This takes place on the Internet," says Slack. "It doesn't need to have a location."
And though the foes they face may be deadly serious, the HPA never fails to leave plenty of room for the fun and friendship fans fell in love with amongst all that world-saving wizardry.
"Sure, Harry fights Voldemort," says Slack. "But he also plays Quidditch . . . and he also snogs Ginny."
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